WBBL: Perth Scorchers knock out Melbourne Stars

A dramatic collapse from a position of strength cost Melbourne Stars a spot in the WBBL 2025 Challenger as Perth Scorchers' bowlers scripted a come-from-behind 28-run victory at home. Meg Lanning and Amy Jones' 87-run partnership had the visitors cruising in the 174-run chase but Stars lost 8 for 44 at the backend of the innings to bow out.

Stars lost opener Rhys McKenna early but Lanning and Jones quickly put the chase back on track with a stand of 87 in 10 overs. The visitors had just crossed the 100-run mark when Alana King had the English wicketkeeper-batter stumped seven short of her fifty. Lanning stuck around, but didn't find any company throughout the remainder of her stay in the middle to once again revive the chase that they had in control.

Lily Mills dismissed Annabel Sutherland and Maia Bouchier in quick succession to reduce Stars to 112/4 in no time, from 101/1 in the 13th over. Lanning fell one shy of her half-century too, at the start of the 17th over, and skipper Sophie Devine helped wrap up the tail cheaply with two lower-order strikes to keep the Stars to just 145/9 in reply.

Earlier, a 107-run opening partnership between Katie Mack and Beth Mooney became the bedrock of Perth's batting efforts after they decided to take first strike on their home ground in this knockout fixture. The opening pair got off to a steady start, with 28 runs on the board at the end of the four-over PowerPlay.

By the half-way point of the innings, the run-rate had touched eight with both batters moving into the thirties with a handful of boundaries each. Mack raced past Mooney to a half-century after finding back-to-back boundaries off Sasha Moloney at the start of the 12th over. But both batters were dismissed within seven balls of each other as McKenna first dismissed Mack for 52 before Kim Garth had Mooney caught for 45.

New batter Freya Kemp didn't take long to settle down and struck a four and a six off the second and third balls she faced. While Devine endured a rare failure, Kemp raced away to 30 off 12 when she found another four and six off McKenna. The Stars bounced back well and starved the Scorchers off boundaries over a 11-ball period that saw the hosts lose both Paige Scholfield and Kemp. Maddy Darke found a couple of boundaries in the 19th over but Garth bowled a tight final over to keep the Scorchers to 173 which eventually proved a winning total nonetheless.

Brief scores:Perth Scorchers 173/5 in 20 overs (Katie Mack 52, Beth Mooney 45; Rhys McKenna 2-26) beat Melbourne Stars 145/9 in 20 overs (Meg Lanning 49, Amy Jones 43; Alana King 2-25, Sophie Devine 2-20) by 28 runs